Preprinted game tickets, such as instant game lottery tickets or pull-tab tickets are known in the art. To create preprinted game tickets, a “deal” of game results is created using a computer program and the tickets are subsequently printed to match the deal, or a portion thereof. There are a fixed amount of predetermined wins in each deal. The type and amount of wins in the deal or deal portion are used to create the content of the tickets.
Instant game lottery tickets may be dispensed by clerks who manually retrieve the tickets from a stack, roll or pool of tickets. As is also known in the art, vending machines are sometimes used to dispense instant game lottery tickets directly to patrons. One example of a vending machine that dispenses preprinted game tickets, such as pull-tab tickets or lottery tickets, generated from a deal, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,002,622 (Breslo), which is incorporated by reference herein. The deal typically includes one or more jackpot tickets. These jackpot tickets are not associated with a progressive jackpot since their jackpot value is predetermined when the deal of tickets is printed, and the jackpot value is preprinted on the ticket(s).
Draw game tickets, such as draw game lottery tickets are also known in the art. In a typical draw game lottery, tickets are sold by clerks (over-the-counter) via dispensing machines which are all connected to a central computer. The clerk then physically hands the tickets to the customers. The tickets may be purchased at a plurality of different physical locations. A set of numbers are selected at the time of purchase and are physically printed on the draw game ticket at the time of purchase via a printer in the dispensing machine. In some draw games, the customer may select the numbers or the customer may request that the clerk allow the central computer to randomly select the numbers. In other draw games, the central computer always selects the numbers. A “drawing” is then held to pick the set of winning numbers. The drawing is selected at periodic intervals, such as once per day, or once per event (e.g., Powerball® drawing).
In one prior art gaming system, a plurality of pull tab machines (Lucky Tab II machines, available from Diamond Game Enterprises, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.) situated at a single physical location were joined together to form a progressive jackpot. A progressive jackpot display was publicly visible at the location so that players in the location could view the current status of the progressive jackpot. The deal of tickets included one or more jackpot tickets, the value of which was determined by the progressive jackpot, which would reset to a predetermined seed amount after each jackpot ticket was dispensed from a machine.
It would be desirable to provide a progressive jackpot gaming experience for use with preprinted instant game tickets, such as instant lottery tickets or pull-tab tickets, in the retail environment on a distributed basis (i.e., in a plurality of retail locations separated geographically). The present invention fulfills such a need by solving the technological hurdles inherent in the integration of preprinted game tickets with predetermined outcomes and a progressive jackpot that spans multiple locations.
There is a potential for clerk misconduct regarding misappropriation of winning jackpot tickets. If the clerk has just completed a ticket transaction for a player, but has not yet physically handed the purchased ticket to the player, and then becomes aware that the progressive jackpot was just reset, the clerk may set the ticket aside for him or herself or for a friend, and then give the player the next ticket in the batch. In this manner, the player is cheated out of a legitimately purchased winning jackpot ticket, without even having any idea that it has happened. Similar misconduct may occur if the clerk discovers that the ticket is a non-jackpot winning ticket for a fixed value before physically handing the purchased ticket to the player. It would be further desirable to provide measures to reduce the potential for clerk misconduct. The present invention fulfills such a need by enhancing the functionality of a conventional player-operated ticket checker.